Various laminates have heretofore been used for preparing interior automotive trims, sealing materials or the like. For Example, glass run channel is known as one of important sealing materials used in automobile. This glass run channel is a guide member provided between a window glass and a window frame in order to make an intimate (liquid tight) sealing operation between the window glass and the window frame possible while facilitating the ascent-decent and open-shut operations of the window glass.
Materials used conventionally for preparing glass run channels include (1) a composite material comprising vulcanized rubber consisting essentially of an ethylene/propylene/diene copolymer rubber excellent in weathering resistance and heat resistance, an adhesive and nylon fiber, (2) a composite material comprising the above-mentioned vulcanized rubber and an adhesive, and (3) a non-rigid PVC for use in contour extrusion.
The conventional glass run channels composed of such composite materials as mentioned above comprise a main body having a groove-like cross-section and tongue-like draining portions, each extending from the tip of the side wall of groove toward the central side of the groove.
In the conventional glass run channels, a nylon film or the like is laminated with an adhesive to the surface of the window glass sliding portion of each draining portion in order that the window glass may part favorably from said sliding portion and also may be prevented from staining, or the surface of each sliding portions of the draining portions is subjected, before or after the above-mentioned lamination of the nylon film or the like, to embossment treatment in order to lessen the contact area of said sliding portions with the window glass.
In a process of preparing such glass run channels as mentioned above, however, there are involved such inconveniences as large number of steps and time-consuming jobs, wherein because of no adhesive properties existing between the above-mentioned non-rigid synthetic resin or vulcanized rubber and such surface material as nylon, it becomes necessary to take the steps of coating the surface of the window glass sliding portions of the main body of glass run channel molded from the above-mentioned non-rigid synthetic resin or vulcanized rubber with an adhesive, and laminating a nylon film or the like to the surface of said window glass sliding portions, and further to carry out the embossment treatment of the surface of said sliding portion before or after the above-mentioned lamination of the nylon film or the like.
On one hand, when the conventional glass run channels are prepared by contour extrusion molding the above-mentioned composite material (3), i.e. a non-rigid polyvinyl chloride, the production process employed therefor is simplified. However, this composite material is poor in heat resistance and dimensional stability, and is inferior in practical performance to the above-mentioned composite materials (1) and (2).
When the conventional glass run channels molded from the above-mentioned composite materials (1) or (2), there is a durability problem of the channels because the nylon film or the like is laminated by means of an adhesive to the window glass sliding portions of the draining portions, and there is also such a drawback that the thus laminated nylon film is liable to peel off from said window glass sliding portions with time and upon exposure outdoors. Furthermore, the embossed pattern formed on the surface of the window glass sliding portions by the embossment treatment is not fully satisfactory in point of combination of fineness and uniformity, and there is much room for improvement in intimate contacting properties between the window glass sliding portion and the window glass at the time of shutting the window glass and also in light sliding properties between the window glass sliding portions and the window glass at the time of opening the window glass.
Accordingly, there has been desired the advent of laminates which are excellent in weathering resistance, heat resistance and dimensional stability, can be prepared by a simplified production process and can be used for the purposes such as interior automotive trims, sealing materials or the like, and also the advent of glass run channels comprising window glass sliding portions molded from said laminates.